Michael's Touge WRX

[michaelwilliamson]

Hey everyone, my names Michael and I'm new to Stanceworks.
I started my car journey with a 1997 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport which can be seen here:

http://www.rs25.com/forums/f145/t189862-michaels-rally-blue-wagon.html

and have now moved on to this 2004 WRX!

The goal with this car is to continue to build it as a canyon carver, keeping it light and nimble.

MODS

Engine:
3" Cobb Turboback Exhaust
Cobb BOV
Cobb SF Intake
Re-routed airflow piping to intake
Stage 2 tune woth Accessport

Interior:
Sphere shift knob
Plasti-dipped center piece
Alpine head unit
Sparco fixed back bucket seat (driver)

Suspension:
BC coilovers
24mm Cobb RSB
Solid endlinks

Exterior:
XXR 522's (white)
Eagle gt tires
Flat black vinyl roof
Plastidip front bumper
De badged trunk
Cleared grill
Hella horns (since removed)
Cleared headlights
Front Lip (white)
30% window tint
Deleted wing

(sorry for the crap cell pics, I've since got an iPhone so it'll be better from now on)
When I bought it:


Over time:





Current:

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

Welcome. I always like spoiler-less WRXs.

First things first if you're going to make it a lightweight canyon carver: get it onto some proper wheels. XXRs (and gravity-cast wheels in general) tend to be on the heavy side.

[rice4life]

The plasti shit makes it look like a new corolla. I know you didn't ask for it, but here's some advice anyway because I'm an asshole.

Take Sam's advice, he's like supermane around here. Let me break it down for you. Try for low pressure and spun cast wheels as they are typically the strongest and lightest cast wheels. Low pressure casting forces out the air bubbles compared to gravity casting, and when the wheel is spun around during the casting process it tends to cause the metal to density to be a bit more evenly spread out as well, ensuring a stronger wheel that uses less mass than a gravity cast wheel. No rep manufacturer uses this process, so no XXR's, Rota's or other super cheap brands. I know 5zigen did it to a lot of their higher end one piece wheels for the last 20+ years, and Enkei's MAT technology that they claim is new is doing it too without breaking the bank. If you can afford forged wheels, then by all means get them, but since casting was mentioned I thought I would give you a basic idea of why reps are inferior.

Oh yeah, here's another thing! So you want to build a car that handles amazingly on mountain roads! There are a lot of things you need to consider to maximize the handling of the car. Every mountain road is different. One setup may be great for a road with lots of hairpins and short straights, but not so good on a road with long straights, sweeping corners and rapid elevation changes.

You need to consider tire compound. Summer tires are good in the dry and the rain. All seasons can perform in the snow to a degree, have great wet traction and can handle pretty well in the dry. I personally prefer a mild summer tire(like the hankook ventus v12 evo, or some HPA like Toyo Proxes 4's)

Then consider brakes. Mountain roads are really taxing on brakes, if you are on a road with many tight turns, the stock WRX 2 piston front brakes can fade horribly, and the stock pads will feel like mush and there will be smoke. Lots of stinky smoke. You can add some stickier pads, and some drilled(or dimpled)/slotted rotors to help with brake fade then throw on some SS brake lines and some fluid with a higher boiling point; If that's not for you, and you need more, consider an STi 4 piston kit or an aftermarket bbk. Oh yeah, you could also cut out some fender liner and build a brake cooling duct too to help with stopping power.

Then goes to suspension. This is really up to you, but street cars with a bit of suspension travel seem to be a bit quicker and more planted when it comes to elevation changes and tight corners. Most people who adjust their own suspension usually think that harder is better, and a lower car will always handle better, but fail to overhaul the whole suspension to accommodate stiffer springs, shocks, and a lower ride height. Also, consider who makes the coilovers and what parts are used on them. KW is made in Taiwan by a sister plant to D2, JDM sport, BC. I'm not saying that they are bad, but some guys are picky about the quality of the coilover. Companies like Tein have the Basic/Street Basis that already have the spring rates matched to the shock absorber pretty damn well for mountain driving/DD status, but they don't let you adjust the damper if you feel like hard parking and not destroying your fenders. Softer springs and dampers may not feel as hard core as it does to ride on bump stops, but it's definitely quicker for the street.

I assume you know the rest, that's just some shit I've gathered from around from late night mountain "cruises" as to what usually makes an insanely quick car on the mountain roads, and it applies to just about any car. Remember to stay safe out there and try not to get the cops on your ass.

Pay once and cry once man. Don't cheap out and have fun. The reason why I'm posting this wall of text is because the WRX community in my area is comprised of 90% ricers who feel that half assed sketchy mods are the path to being cool. Please don't be one of those people.

Shit man, I'm drunk. I need to go to sleep. Good thing for spell check.

[cosmo135]

The plasti shit makes it look like a new corolla. I know you didn't ask for it, but here's some advice anyway because I'm an asshole.

Take Sam's advice, he's like supermane around here. Let me break it down for you. Try for low pressure and spun cast wheels as they are typically the strongest and lightest cast wheels. Low pressure casting forces out the air bubbles compared to gravity casting, and when the wheel is spun around during the casting process it tends to cause the metal to density to be a bit more evenly spread out as well, ensuring a stronger wheel that uses less mass than a gravity cast wheel. No rep manufacturer uses this process, so no XXR's, Rota's or other super cheap brands. I know 5zigen did it to a lot of their higher end one piece wheels for the last 20+ years, and Enkei's MAT technology that they claim is new is doing it too without breaking the bank. If you can afford forged wheels, then by all means get them, but since casting was mentioned I thought I would give you a basic idea of why reps are inferior.

Oh yeah, here's another thing! So you want to build a car that handles amazingly on mountain roads! There are a lot of things you need to consider to maximize the handling of the car. Every mountain road is different. One setup may be great for a road with lots of hairpins and short straights, but not so good on a road with long straights, sweeping corners and rapid elevation changes.

You need to consider tire compound. Summer tires are good in the dry and the rain. All seasons can perform in the snow to a degree, have great wet traction and can handle pretty well in the dry. I personally prefer a mild summer tire(like the hankook ventus v12 evo, or some HPA like Toyo Proxes 4's)

Then consider brakes. Mountain roads are really taxing on brakes, if you are on a road with many tight turns, the stock WRX 2 piston front brakes can fade horribly, and the stock pads will feel like mush and there will be smoke. Lots of stinky smoke. You can add some stickier pads, and some drilled(or dimpled)/slotted rotors to help with brake fade then throw on some SS brake lines and some fluid with a higher boiling point; If that's not for you, and you need more, consider an STi 4 piston kit or an aftermarket bbk. Oh yeah, you could also cut out some fender liner and build a brake cooling duct too to help with stopping power.

Then goes to suspension. This is really up to you, but street cars with a bit of suspension travel seem to be a bit quicker and more planted when it comes to elevation changes and tight corners. Most people who adjust their own suspension usually think that harder is better, and a lower car will always handle better, but fail to overhaul the whole suspension to accommodate stiffer springs, shocks, and a lower ride height. Also, consider who makes the coilovers and what parts are used on them. KW is made in Taiwan by a sister plant to D2, JDM sport, BC. I'm not saying that they are bad, but some guys are picky about the quality of the coilover. Companies like Tein have the Basic/Street Basis that already have the spring rates matched to the shock absorber pretty damn well for mountain driving/DD status, but they don't let you adjust the damper if you feel like hard parking and not destroying your fenders. Softer springs and dampers may not feel as hard core as it does to ride on bump stops, but it's definitely quicker for the street.

I assume you know the rest, that's just some shit I've gathered from around from late night mountain "cruises" as to what usually makes an insanely quick car on the mountain roads, and it applies to just about any car. Remember to stay safe out there and try not to get the cops on your ass.

Pay once and cry once man. Don't cheap out and have fun. The reason why I'm posting this wall of text is because the WRX community in my area is comprised of 90% ricers who feel that half assed sketchy mods are the path to being cool. Please don't be one of those people.

Shit man, I'm drunk. I need to go to sleep. Good thing for spell check.

Listen to this guy right here. And please. For the love of god get rid of the plasti dip

But i'm subbed for a fellow WRX on stanceworks.

[michaelwilliamson]

Thanks for the responses guys.
I had a feeling I'd get some **** for the bumper but it was something I just did on a whim, and I kinda like it, so it'll stay for a little while.

Sam: awesome to see that youre in Portland, I go to school down there and will be moving back in a couple weeks! You make it out to many meets?

Riceforlife:
Really appreciate the feedback, i'lll try to keep my response somewhat organized lol.
Tires: I've been running these all season's since the fall because I drive in the snow on a weekly basis through the mountains. But, I'll be picking up some summer tires very shortly.
Wheels: I just **** everything about the 522's, looks and everything. So I'm working on it.
Brakes: By far the weak point. Haven't experienced a ton of smoke, but they smell STRONG after a few runs and fade pretty instantly which makes for some less-then-great downhill runs. So this is my biggest focus moving forward. There are some good, easy rear brake upgrades using other stock Subaru parts so I'm planning to swap out the 1-pot stock calipers for 2-pots off a hawkeye.
This should help keep some of the weight and momentum off the front wheels under tremendous braking (due to the more balanced braking pressure) which will in turn, allow me to enter through corners slightly faster, reducing entry understeer (let me know if you disagree).

[rice4life]

Most of your braking is done by the front, so I doubt you will feel too much of a difference with the 2 pot rears. It might actually throw off your brake proportioning as well, so you would need a proportioning valve somewhere in there to maximize the ability of upgraded rears. So let's say that your brakes are set up as a 70/30 split stock on stock brakes. Under hard braking let's say that 80% of the cars weight is going to the front. If you add larger rear brakes, it might alter the proportioning to 60/40. With 80% of the cars weight going up front, you will actually be losing stopping power without adjusting the proportioning via a proportioning valve. A great example of this is doing an SR5 to GTS rear end conversion on an ae86. When you press on the brakes with the GTS rear discs on an SR5 w/o a proportioning valve, it feels terribly squishy and the stopping distance goes up immensely.

One of my friends has a black bugeye wrx, and installed a stoptech brake upgrade kit that came with f+r slotted disc's, sticky pads, and SS brake lines. It was a night and day difference between stock and that. It's always good to consider your options, and balance the $$$ vs performance.

It's a good thing you already have a good set of coilovers on there too. Don't be afraid to change around your suspension settings as needed.

[michaelwilliamson]

Hmm. never quite though about it that way. Thanks for the insight! I'll definately take that into consideration.

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

Take Sam's advice, he's like supermane around here.

Jesus, I don't know if I'm supermane. I did get called a "bacon of light" in another thread, which is pretty great.

Some great thoughts on braking above, and I agree with all of them. My experience with WRXs is similar: the stock brakes are powerful enough to light the ABS with reasonably sticky tires (which means you don't really need more powerful braking force, at least until you get into very wide track tires), but they have inadequate cooling and fade like a son-of-a-bitch. Were I setting up one and not looking to blow a fortune on it, a combination of SS lines, EBC Reds or similar, and some nice slotted rotors would do wonders, as Rice4life suggests. Also, get some good fluid in there.

Let me know if you plan on hitting up RDM or any of the other local meets. I've been out of "the scene" since I moved back to Portland a few years back, but I wouldn't mind getting the old Mercedes all polished up and showing it off for once.

[TWM Performance]

Definitely digging the bucket seat!

- Renato

[michaelwilliamson]

Sam: Fluid is definately needed. Who knows the last time it was flushed.. I bought some DOT 4 fluid to put in a little while back. Still need to get around to putting it in. And I've heard a lot of mixed opinions with drilled/slotted rotors. But, it seems that I would benefit from them a lot more than the average daily driven car considered how hard I'm pushing mine. But yeah I'll tell you when im headed down to RDM!

Thanks Renato, thats actually my most recent mod. I have a matching one for the passenger but still deciding whether to put it in (not too sure how happy the gf would be) hahaha.

[ihate0sc]

some decent pipes for this thing would look rad

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

For whatever it's worth, if you're looking for wheels, Electricalbox has a set of RPF1s for cheap in the classifieds: http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...02#post1473102 . I don't know whether he's interested in shipping, but RPF1s are stupid light.

[Jlyons617]

For whatever it's worth, if you're looking for wheels, Electricalbox has a set of RPF1s for cheap in the classifieds: http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...02#post1473102 . I don't know whether he's interested in shipping, but RPF1s are stupid light.

Plus he's one of the best sellers on here.

[rice4life]

For whatever it's worth, if you're looking for wheels, Electricalbox has a set of RPF1s for cheap in the classifieds: http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...02#post1473102 . I don't know whether he's interested in shipping, but RPF1s are stupid light.

Do it, jump on it mane!

[michaelwilliamson]

I wouldve totally jumped on those if it were a better time. I've been spending alot on books and other school stuff lately since I leave again soon.Probably wouldnt be the most "responsible" thing for me to do right now hahaha. Thanks for looking out though!